Bottle closure



April 7, 1953 L. G- COPEMAN BOTTLE CLOSURE Filed April 25., 1946 swam tom 3 W m v D! w% 6 X m M m. Z 1

Patented Apr. 7, 1953 a fassioiiz;

1 Lloyd G. -('-}opeman', Metamora,- Mich'.," as'signor to Copeman Laboratories Company, Flint, Mich.,

; a. corporationof Michiganj V $356,825,: there is disclosed a laminated sheet 3 "foruse as a protective---or wrapping material having a cohesive layer on'one side. V M

In the use of such materials for a sanitary covering for the-mouth and-neck of a bottle, it frequently occursthat the outside of-the bottle'neck' is; wet; from the bottle filling operation and order to assure good cohesion of the protective covering somemeans must be provided "forholding the'material in close contact with the bottleneck until the moisture'has-dried-out; V {*filiis anobject ofthe 'present invention to pro- =-vide'an improved' larninatedsheet material comirisir ig a "backing-layer of ductile metal foil tofgether Witha highly coherent layer which can ;be used as laprot'ective or wrapping-material and applied td articles, which are' wet with greater iacilityin forming a'sealedenclosure. ""A-iurt-her object-is toprovide an improved. wrapping material provided 1 with-a highly cohesiv'e layer formed upon a backing material having the p'ropertyof' retaining any "crushed, b'en't oricrumpled*shape which it is given without "springing back at alla It is also an object of thepresent invention to provide an improved protective covering for a capped bottle which maybe appliedwhile the cttle i's w'et' and which "will hermetically seal "the mouth and neck-"of the bottleagainst-conf'furth'erobj'ect is to provide a protective covering ofi this "type" which may be usec'l on bottles 'ha'vin'g a crcwncap anw which further may be applied to' th'e bottle month before the crown cap' 'is applied and' Without damaging-the saniview" partly in sle'ctior' illustrating a ":1 step in I he application of the covering;

Y I 1s a vie' eo'rr pond-meta Fi'g'. z's'how- Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view ofa bottle having "the severingor 'the"pres'enfinvention applied fiolaimsi (chaise-38 a laminatedsheet I0 is formed by ta ing a continuous strip ofductile metalfoil, for example, ordinary tin foiLand applying to one face of the foil either a continuous or an interrupted layer of highlycohesive material." Such a layer may be formed by coating with an aqueousdispersion of latex or the like directly to on'e-side'of the r011 after which it is permitted to partially set;- up withoutpermitting a fullset-up=-or=-cure. Priorto thefull cure, the thuslaminated-"strip may be rolled upon itself to exclude air from the deposited latex layerythus providing-a conveni- 'ent stock roll' such as illustrate'clat 12,-= n-'om which the protective strip may bedispensed as required i H ,i n .w i

' A Whenthe stripis unrolled from itself inuse, the deposited latex layer while substantially "non-tacky and being only partially-cured, ise in a' state where it is very highly cohesive to itself when two portions of its surface are brought into "contact with one another.'" Due to its-substantially non-tacky nature, "however, it does} not adhere to othersurfacessuchas glass on to 'the "backface of the foil layer with sufficient'adhe sion "to prevent its ready removal leaving such s'u'iface completely clean. *1 "Where the improved protective material" is to be'usecl in production bottling operation'sy'it is preferred to form the protective covering-dicta a continuous 'strip'of'foil I4 to which is intimately bonded alayerof de'posited lateii i6 ove'r' spaced areas which may 'beeither roundnrf squareor -'of 5 cther suitable' sha es and sum-ism -to*'c'oifer themcuth' and neck (Sf-the particularbottle tobe "protected. These latexareas may be'a'pplic'd -by .EanyssuitabIe:method; as for instancefifrdmiollers the" name" Protex #11376; isparticularl'y' siiit'ed as a coating? material; and particularly has i'good cohesive properties wlie partially set and protectedfromthe-air. nn n Apreferred r'n'etho'dof applyings'uch a covering sheet to a 'b0tt1 consists "in unwinding-it from theroll l2 assh'cwnin Fig; l'and feedin'g -itiby -means' of pinch rolls ['8 through a "shearing device "20 th overlie the'itop 'ofla bottle EL -"Suitable "guide' meaiis not shown may: support-the piotec- 3 tive layer as it is pushed to the right by the feed rolls l8. The shears 20 are then closed to sever the material, leaving a square of sheet centered on the mouth of the bottle 22.

The bottle is then placed under a capping head as illustrated in Fig. 2. Preferably this comprises the usual crown cap 24 and cap crimping sleeve 26 together with a rubber squeegee device 28. The latter comprises a rubber cylinder or sleeve adapted to be forced down over the neck of the bottle and to be stretched in so doing so that the protective sheet I0 is snugly enrobed around the neck of thef'bottle and pleated, folded or crumpled into close engagement therewith. During the final part of the downward stroke on the capping mechanism, the crown cap engages the bottle top and is crimped in place on top of the protective covering It as shown more clearly in Fig. 3. The capping device is then drawn upwardly either simultaneously with the sleeve 28 or the sleeve may be withdrawn first, in which case the crimping sleeve 26 serves to guide the rubber sleeve over the sharp edges of the crown cap without tearing. This leaves a capped bottle having the appearance shown in Fig. 4. Since the foil is backed and reinforced by a layer of deposited latex, or the like, the crimping of the crown cap will normally not rupture the foil, but if the foil should be ruptured at any point, the layer of rubber will still maintain a sanitary seal.

Since the filling operation, which precedes the placing of the protective layer over the bottle mouth, as shown in Fig. 1, frequently involves spilling of the liquid over the outside of the bottle neck, the inclusion of such liquid between adjacent portions of the latex layer l6 would interfere, to some extent, with securing proper cohesion of the latex to itself and would reduce the temporary adherence of the same to the walls of the bottle. The action of the squeegee 28, however, drives substantially all of the liquid down the bottle neck ahead of the protecting covering .as it engages the bottle neck and greatly reduces the amount of moisture which remains to interfere with the cohesive properties of the latex layer. However, it might be impossible to exclude all moisture by such a method and a distinct advantage of the present covering lies in the total lack of springy characteristics of the backing layer I 4. Thus the soft ductile foil retains any conformation which is given to it by the squeegee 28 and holds the cohesive layer in close contact with itself until it has become fully dried out and united into an integral self-sealing hood.

It will be noted that a bottle thus protected has its mouth and neck maintained in a sanitary condition during subsequent handling and, further, that the crown cap 24 may be removed without removing the protective sheet 10. Thus, for example, in the case of bottles containing soft drinks or beer, they may be served to the customer with the crown cap removed and with the protective covering still in place so that the customer is assured that the mouth and pouring neck of the bottle have been maintained in a sanitary condition up to the time he uses it.

While the invention has been illustrated in connection with the protection of bottles, it will be understood that the improved laminated sheet material may be used for other protective and wrapping purposes, thus, for example, the roll I2 may be formed with a continuous coating of deposited, partially set-up latex which, when unrolled from the roll, may be cut in pieces of suitable size and used to wrap articles of any nature. It is particularly useful for wrapping meats and other foods which are to be frozen, and when so wrapped the edges of the protective covering may be brought into contact and cohered to each other. Due to the non-springy nature of the backing [4, the wrapping may be closely pressed against all the irregular contours of the article being wrapped to exclude air, thus giving a snug-fitting wrapping of high heat conductivity which greatly accelerates and facilitates a subsequent freezing operation.

The terms latex, aqueous dispersions of rubber," and .rubber as used in the specification and claims are intended to cover both natural and synthetic materials or combinations of natural and synthetic materials, as well as compounds or mixtures of natural or synthetic latices with other ingredients which may be added to impart stability, fluidity, viscosity and other desirable features to the coating bath, provided that the resultant film is non-tacky and has the property of self-adhesion.

As shown in Figure 5 the foil-backed latex coating may be wrapped around the top of the bottle, leaving a hole at the top but still be confined beneath the periphery of the crown cap.

I claim:

1. In combination, a conventional crown type bottle cap of stiff material, a bottle having a mouth and neck formed to receive a conventional crown type bottle cap which is held in place by crimping around the outer edge of the bottle, the bottle neck being narrowed externally below the mouth, and a protective covering underlying the bottle cap and overlying the mouth of the bottle with a substantial skirt portion on the neck below all parts of the bottle cap, said covering comprising a backing of ductile metal foil coated on one side with an adherent layer of rubber deposited from an aqueous dispersion of latex which has had the water removed and is in a partially set-up state in which it is substantially non-tacky but still capable of cohering to itself, the skirt portion being pressed close to the bottle neck at and below the narrowed portion to cause the covering to cling to the bottle top by reason of the latex surface and the restricting nature of the foil.

2. In combination, a conventional crown type bottle cap of still material, a bottle having a mouth and neck formed to receive a conventional crown type bottle cap which is held in place by crimping around the outer edge of the bottle, the bottle neck being narrowed externally below the mouth, and a protective covering underlying the bottle cap and overlying the mouth of the bottle with a substantial skirt portion on the neck below all parts of the bottle cap, said covering comprising a sheet of metal foil having bonded thereto a layer of rubber in a partially set-up state to be substantially non-tacky but coherent, said foil having sufficient form sustaining characteristics when pressed close to the neck of a bottle that it will maintain its conformed shape to insure contact of the coated surfaces of the laminated sheet with the bottle neck after any excess moisture on the bottle has evaporated to cause the covering to cling to the neck independently of the crown cap.

3. In combination, a conventional crown type bottle cap of stiff material, a bottle having a mouth and neck formed to receive a conventional crown type bottle cap which is held in place by crimping around the outer edge of the bottle, and

a protective covering underlying the bottle cap and overlying the mouth of the bottle and a substantial portion of the neck below all parts of the bottle cap, said covering comprising a sheet of backing material coated on the underside with a partially set-up layer of rubber being substantially non-tacky but coherent.

4. In combination, a conventional crown type bottle cap of stiff material, a bottle having a mouth and neck formed to receive a conventional crown type bottle cap which is held in place by crimping around the outer edge of the bottle, and a protective covering underlying the bottle cap and overlying the mouth of the bottle and a substantial portion of the neck below all parts of the bottle cap, said covering comprising a sheet of backing material coated on one side with a film of adhesive material to form a cushion between the covering and the bottle and to cohere at overlapping portions of the covering.

' LLOYD G. COPEMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Number Number 17,365 478,718

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Knaust Apr. 30, 1912 Chausse July 2, 1929 Hammond Sept. 24, 1935 Eisen May 24, 1938 Lane July 19, 1938 Vogel Aug. 23, 1938 Jensen Sept. 27, 1938 Strauch Aug.,6, 1940 Harvey Oct. 13, 1942 Copeman Aug. 29, 1944 Gudheim Nov. 13, 1945 Golding Nov. 18, 1947 Ekstedt et a1. Aug. 24, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Australia H--- of 1928 Great Britain Jan. 24, 1938 France Feb. 6, 1932 

